The Room of Requirement
by n33n
Summary: Let's say that our dear Lily and James gets stuck in the Room of Requirement until they finally settle their differences...once and for all...enjoy! This is a Lily and James fic!
1. Settling Differences

The Room of Requirement

By: neen

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I've decided to post this up to see if people liked it…and wanted me to continue it…please comment! Thanks!

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**Settling Differences**

"No, Serenity! You can't do this to me! Serenity! I'm your _best_ friend!" Lily shouted as Serenity and Sirius locked her and James Potter in the Room of Requirement.

"Sorry, Lils! The door will automatically open after you two sort out your childish differences. Have fun!" Serenity said through the door and Lily could see Serenity's grin.

"Oh yeah, if you ever need anything, just say so," Sirius added. The two could be heard walking away.

"This," Lily pointed to the door, "is what our dear friends do to us! I mean they _know_ we hate each other! The nerve of them!"

"Exactly," James agreed, nodding furiously.

Then an awkward silence filled in.

"Merlin! This is such bad timing. I need to go to the bathroom," Lily's voice became panicky, breaking the silence.

A toilet appeared in the corner.

Lily's eyebrows shot up. "Well! Potter, be a good boy and turn around," Lily commanded.

"No thanks. I don't think so. I might like this—blackmail of my mortal enemy," James said, smiling cheekily.

"I need a toilet in a separate _room_," Lily cried out desperately.

The toilet quickly disappeared and was immediately replaced by a door. Lily eagerly grabbed the door handle and went inside.

"Damn! Where's the lock?" Lily cursed. A lock appeared and Lily rapidly bolted it.

A few minutes later, Lily walked out, feeling much more relieved, and noticed James staring at her, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Evans, was that lacy pink underwear your first non-cotton piece of knickers?" James asked sweetly, the smirk now firmly in place and visible.

Lily gasped. "You—you _saw_ me?" she spluttered angrily.

James just gave her a suggestive smile.

"The nerve of you!" Lily screamed again and sat down huffily on a squishy armchair James had requested for himself before.

"I would like some butter biscuits and some pumpkin juice, I believe," Lily said, trying to control her anger and a platter and a jug appeared on a table.

"Mind if I take some?" James asked before grabbing two of the butter biscuits. He had just requested another chair, which situated itself rather close to Lily's chair.

Lily just scowled at him, throwing his a glare before munching on one.

"You know," James began suddenly after a few minutes, "sometimes I wonder how we ever _got_ to be enemies. How is that?"

Lily looked surprised at his question, but merely shrugged. "I think _you_ started it by pranking me senselessly in our first year."

"What were the pranks like?" James inquired.

"I can't quite remember. Funny. But it was so long ago," Lily trailed off, reminiscing before snapping back into her fiery self. "It was your fault , of course," she added quickly.

James chuckled lightly. "I'm terribly sorry, Evans. Can you ever forgive me?"

Lily was shocked now. "You know I can't, Potter!"

James looked confused. "Why not?"

"You're just an arrogant git that hexes innocent people for the _fun_ of it! You're a cruel prick!"

"Listen, Lily," James said softly. The word 'Lily' sounded rusty in his mouth, as it hadn't been used in a long time. Lily looked up at James as he said her name. Her face had on an expression James could not place.

"I'm really sorry, whether you believe it or not. I've never exactly regarded you as my enemy—never since our fourth year. In fact, I believe I've taken a liking to you, Lily," James said and Lily could feel his breath on her cheek. Without another word, James tilted Lily's head by her chin and pressed his lips onto Lily's.

Lily was on fire. She felt his soft, gentle lips on hers but could not resist for some odd reason. James now had his hands running in Lily's hair. Lily's mind was screaming, "He's your_ enemy_, for Merlin's sake! _He's James Potter_!" But Lily's heart wouldn't listen. She kissed back, eager to see how it would go—to see if it was like how the other girls said he was—a _very_ nice snog.

As James stroked the back of her neck, however, her senses came to her and she pulled away, with great effort, as if she had been glued on.

"Potter, this did not happen." Lily spat out, rubbing her lips with her sleeve, as she jolted up furiously from her chair.

"But—you kissed back!" James protested, getting up as well and took a step towards her.

"I didn't, Potter. _Why_ would I kiss _you_? Your brains are addled—besides, it was perhaps a _figment_ of your overly large imagination," Lily shot back.

"You're right. Why would you?" James said, now in a doubtful tone, sinking back slowly into his chair. He had on a hurt expression on his handsome face. Lily had a sudden urge to swoop down and kiss him to make it all better, but she wanted to toy with James Potter a bit more—bring down his arrogance a notch.

"I mean I don't have _any _reason to," Lily continued on, even though guilt was eating away at her.

"No reason to," James echoed dully, his hand ruffling his hair absently as he thought.

Even though Lily would have eaten spiders (the thing she detested most) before admitting it, she thought him very cute, sitting there with a vulnerable look on his face then.

Her emotions came over and she said, struggling, "But I don't _hate_ you, Potter." She resisted giving him a hug before she bolted for the door, praying it was open. She couldn't suffer any more embarrassment today.

It was unlocked.

Lily sprinted out quickly, running away from her emotions, thoughts, desires, and most of all—she suspected, appalled, that it was the start of her crazy feelings for one charming James Potter.

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Author's Note:

Enjoyed it? Hated it? Please review or just drop a hey, great! **I accept anonymous reviews**!


	2. Utter Confusion

The Room of Requirement

By: neen

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Just a little note to help reduce the confusion…this story takes place in their **SIXTH** year! Thanks.

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**Utter Confusion**

Lily couldn't think clearly—not in the Common Room with so many people and _definitely _not in the girl's dormitory, which was currently full of giggling girls gossiping about the latest rumors.

Serenity had been waiting for her in the Common Room. As soon as Lily entered, Serenity stood up and walked over to her, but Lily refused to even look at her, let alone talk to her. Her best friend, Lily scoffed. Yes, her best friend that teamed up with _James_ _Potter's_ best friend to lock the two known arch enemies together in a confined room. Yes, her _best_ friend, soft-spoken, caring Serenity Harrington—the chestnut-haired and chocolate-eyed pretty girl she had been friends with ever since her first day here at Hogwarts.

She longed to go back to the Room of Requirement without James for some peace to think things through. There were hundreds of crazy things floating in her head and she suddenly felt that her head was very cramped up.

Lily decided to risk it. The Room of Requirement would turn into anything the requestor wanted, didn't it? So she could ask for a quiet room, all alone to herself. Brilliant.

Lily left at top speed to the Room of Requirement, not heeding to a protesting Serenity.

She ran through the halls and suddenly collided with someone. "I'm so sorry!" she murmured, looking down before taking a run again.

"Clumsy Mudblood," the voice said spitefully, staring coldly at the departing red-haired beauty, and bent down to pick up his beloved, battered textbook—_Advances of Potion Making_, and made another scribble in the middle of the corridor.

Lily finally halted when she found the door handle, gleaming at her. _I want a place where no one can disturb me—somewhere quiet, peaceful, and without James Potter. _

She threw open the door and went inside. There were soft, large pillows piled on the floor and a gentle breeze blowing in from a sunlit window that was not there this morning when she was stuck in the room with James Potter.

She sighed, somewhat contented, and fell back onto the pillows.

Finally, somewhere she could think without that stupid James Potter finding her.

It was interesting really, she thought. How could she, after five years of loathing, hexing, jinxing him, actually fall for him—her sole—her _worst _enemy? It was all too rushed. She shook her head. No, she didn't like him, really. Attractive, yes, but she didn't like him.

"Oh, this is so confusing," Lily sighed, sitting up and letting the breeze wrap around her.

It was as if she were seeing him in a new light—she saw qualities in him that she had not seen until today.

How could she not have ever spotted his deep hazel eyes, framed with his black, round glasses that so suited his crazy, unkempt hair and most of all—his very nice, dazzling smile that made girls swoon over before?

She shook her head more vigorously this time. No, it was just all a crazy dream. But James's confession to her that morning kept on drifting back to her head over and over again, whether she wanted it or not.

_I need somebody to comfort me—to help me make out the right decision…_

Lily sighed. The door swung open, and Lily spun around.

"Potter?" she called out wonderingly, speculating if he was real or not.

"What are you doing in _here_, Ev—Lily? The door just popped me in here," James said, looking around at the Room of Requirement, which he did not recognize.

Lily thought back to her thoughts and groaned. She had accidentally summoned James into the room. Great.

"So," James seated himself on a large pouf, staring at Lily. The wind wrapped itself around James's hair, making it wilder and even more windswept. "How are you?"

"I'm—well, I'm fine," Lily said quickly, turning away from James and letting the sunlight catch her hair.

"You know, about this morning—" James began after an awkward silence.

"I already said all I wanted to on the subject, Potter," Lily said sharply and stared out the window.

"Oh," James said, slightly disappointed, but did not press on any further.

Lily stood up after a moment. "I'm leaving."

"What? Oh, all right," James looked startled before he too, stood up and followed Lily out of the bright-lit, peaceful room.

"Don't follow me, Potter," Lily said, halting in the middle of the hallway.

"I—yes, fine then," James sighed and slipped behind the portrait, out of view.

Lily turned around to tell James off again but he was gone. Lily stared into the emptiness, but James was no where to be seen.

Lily walked back to the Common Room, looking rather gloomy and dragged herself into an armchair, sitting down.

Serenity was waiting, once again. "Listen, Lily, and don't run out on me again like you did two hours ago, and hear me out! I'm really sorry, all right? But Sirius had a good theory and we decided to test it out and if you're still not listening to a word I say, then I won't attempt to say anything anymore!" Serenity burst out angrily.

Lily looked surprised at the sudden outburst by Serenity. Her best friend was usually a calm, sensitive person—definitely not this angry, irritated girl.

"I see," was Lily's answer and she stared at the crackling fire.

"And if you're still angry at m—_what_?" Serenity stared hard at Lily, in full disbelief at what Lily just said.

"I _see_ what you're saying, Serenity," Lily repeated again, her eyes not moving away from the fire.

"Oh," Serenity said in a much smaller voice. "I'm really sorry, Lils—I know I shouldn't have locked you in there—but Sirius said that, well, you know…" Serenity trailed off, looking at Lily.

"I don't know," Lily said softly, still staring intently into the fire.

"What? What is it, Lily?" Serenity asked gently, seating herself down next to Lily.

"He confuses me so much, Serenity—I don't know—it's crazy—we've always fought until now…he doesn't want to be my enemy anymore," Lily said, her eyes shut.

"James, you mean?" Serenity asked, an excited tone seeping into her voice.

Lily nodded slowly.

"Yes! Sirius was right—I _knew_ it!" Serenity smiled broadly and nearly knocked over Sirius Black, who had just walked through the portrait hole.

"My dear Serenity, I know my charming looks are magnetic—but _really_," Sirius said with a large grin on his handsome face.

"Sorry—it's just that James _does_ like Lily! You were right!" Serenity explained, beaming.

Sirius beamed brightly as well. "Ah, well yes, these brains of mine…"

Lily seemed to come back to earth and shot Sirius a dark look.

"The ones addled by that crazy Potter?" Lily asked smoothly.

"Now, wait a minute, I thought you and Prongsie had a good bonding time together—how else did you get out?" Sirius asked, frowning slightly, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Lily turned away, looking at the fire again, and blushed slightly. "I—I—_escaped_. I lied to him, you know. How else _could_ I have gotten out? Like I would really resolve differences with that mad git!" Lily snapped indignantly.

"Oh dear," Serenity breathed out as she looked up after hearing a slight creak. "_James_."

James slowly walked down from the boys' dormitory, never taking his eyes off Lily. Lily stared at the fire defiantly, determined not to glance a square inch of James Henry Potter.

"Prongs, old pal, the little spitfire's at it again," Sirius shook his magnificent head, clamping a hand on James's shoulder.

Serenity then nudged Sirius and jerked her head towards the door and Sirius, cottoning on, followed her out.

James stepped towards Lily, as he too, stared at the fire, not blinking.

"Lily," he said, his eyes reflecting the large, cheerful fire.

"Potter—I don't want to hear it," she said tiredly, now staring at the floor.

"_I _didn't lie to you this morning—I meant every word I said…I can swear by it, Lily. I just can't believe you—"James continued on as if he never heard Lily and then broke off, disappointment clearly slipping in his voice.

"Sorry—I never should have said anything in the first place," James's tone was icy now, and he swished his cloak, leaving the room.

Lily now looked up, her face quite expressionless. She stood up, glancing at the spot James had stood just a minute ago.

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Author's Note:

Ahh…not one of my best chapters…sorry, I've been somewhat busy writing a new Harry Potter and crew (yes, my first—I usually write Marauder era stories) story which has a lot of my theories and thoughts about what will happen in the seventh installment of the series…

**reviewers:**

: _angelwriter2492,chikichiki, NoName, heather _: thanks!

: _Alexis _: thanks for the lengthy and thorough review! Yes, I thought about setting up Serenity's character during the first chapter, but found that many other writers characterize the characters too soon...so I went and added to her image this chapter instead...but I'm very glad you noticed that! I know that it went a tad bit too fast...but it's because I've had this idea in my head for the longest time and I just needed to see what people thought of it...hope you had satisfactory answers in this chapter...I will continue to flesh it out a bit more overall. But thank you for the constructive criticism and compliments! I hope you will continue reading my other stories and write your great opinion!

: _Prongsie4028 _: Goodness, I just love your reviews! Excellent! Ahh, sorry for the long wait--I've been reading HPVI and it's just...sigh...so I've started writing a HP crew story (called **The Chosen One's Battle**) if you or anyone else is interested in hearing my theories...I'm touched by how long you took to write the review...thank you! I will try to read your stories when I have time...(might be a few days, sorry!)

: _Sweetblood64 _: Ahh, thank you! Hope you liked this chapter...It's not my best ones, but...I've been working on other stories, sorry!

**Thanks to Prongsie4028 for placing this on your favorites and to Prongsie4028 and chikichiki for posting this on your alerts list! **


	3. The Nightgown Memory

The Room of Requirement

By: neen

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Just a little note to help reduce the confusion…this story takes place in their **SIXTH** year! Thanks.

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**The Nightgown Memory**

"Lily? What happened? James looked so _angry_ when he went outside," Serenity informed, walking in the Common Room.

"Serenity, I'd rather not talk about it," Lily said in the same tired tone.

Serenity stood her ground. "Lily, you _need_ to talk about it! It'll make you feel better—_honestly_."

Lily gave Serenity a questioning eye. "When did you become so persistent? I remember you used to give in to me all the time…"

Serenity turned slightly pink. "Well, I mean, this thing is something I feel passionately about, so um, that's why."

"Tell the truth," Lily said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I _am_! Sirius and I would love it if you and James got together! Sirius is tired of James moping around every time you insult him and _I'm_ tired of you liking James and refusing to acknowledge it!" Serenity's fair face turned slightly ruddy from anger.

Lily was shocked. Her usually quiet, gentle friend had suddenly developed this fiery personality. "Serenity…what's going on?"

"If you haven't noticed, I won't say!" Serenity said huffily, storming out of the Common Room.

"What is up with everyone?" Lily voiced angrily, kicking the armchair she had been sitting in, which only earned her a sore toe.

Sirius now entered.

Lily eyed him. "You too? Come to rant or shout at me, I suppose?"

Sirius shook his head. "No. I just wanted to know what made Serenity so mad. She wouldn't even look at me when she ran off."

Lily sighed. "She just got mad at me."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't notice something stupid," Lily said crossly, sitting down on the armchair she had just childishly kicked.

"Like what?" Sirius pressed.

"I don't know!" Lily said angrily. "How am I supposed to know? She didn't tell me anything!"

Sirius hesitated. "Has she been acting strange or something?"

"Yes! It's like she went crazy—fraternizing with people that are teaching her crazy things to tell me!"

"I think I know what it is."

"What?"

"We're going out."

"_What_?"

"Well, we _are_."

"Since _when_?"

"Last week. Then we started plotting—I mean erm, we, ah, we started trying to get you and James together because of a distinguished theory," Sirius explained.

Lily squinted her eyes in suspicion. "_What_ distinguished theory are you talking about?"

"The Sirius Black Theory #3," Sirius said promptly.

"Which states…?" Lily asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"IF James Henry Potter likes Lily Marie Evans and IF Lily Marie Evans thinks James Henry Potter is very handsome, funny, and is using 'the arch enemy' thing as a cover up for her undying love for him, THEN the two mad lovebirds should get together," Sirius said swiftly, flicking his elegant hair back.

"_Where_ in Merlin's Beard did you come up with this load of rubbish?" Lily asked, completely astounded.

"I have good connections, Evans, and let's say that these connections are extremely trustworthy," Sirius whispered mysteriously, winking at her.

Lily raised an arched eyebrow. "You mean that these 'extremely trustworthy connections' is Serenity, right?"

"Well, at least someone uses their brains around here," Sirius exclaimed, widening his beam.

Lily snorted, most unladylike. "Nonsense. I have never in my life said anything of the sort—Serenity is saying rubbish to you, I'm terribly sorry to inform."

Sirius turned solemn. "Serenity tells me that you said all of this to her during the Potions class when we all tested the Veritaserum truth potion."

Lily paled slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about! Serenity said I just told her my most embarrassing moment which involves Potter dumping olive oil all over my hair that I straightened for once that morning in front of _everyone _in the Great Hall!"

"Well, she lied," Sirius said good-naturedly and smiled most evilly. "And I'm glad I learned that that was your most embarrassing moment."

Lily would not back down and shouted defiantly. "She's still lying! I don't give a damn about that stupid prick, all right? Not even a little ounce!"

"Fiery little thing, aren't you?" Sirius asked, chuckling as he stood up and left.

Lily glared at the doorway where James, Serenity, and now Sirius had all left her alone and she finally stomped up the stairs and flung herself on her bed in fury, cursing James Potter and all the crazy things he made her go through in one mere day.

o.O.o.O.o

"Women," James kept muttering to Remus, who was looking thoughtful.

"Prongs, stop it, you're making me dizzy," Remus said.

"Sorry," James murmured and two minutes later, he began muttering 'women' again.

"She might be in denial, for all you know," Remus said, trying to find a way to shut James up.

"You mean that she's lying?" James asked hopefully.

Desperate for James to stop buggering him, he nodded quickly. "Yes, I believe so."

"Good. That's _exactly_ what I thought as well," James nodded.

o.O.o.O.o

"Lily? Wake up—it's Saturday and we have a Hogsmeade trip," Serenity said, poking Lily in the forehead. Lily grabbed at Serenity's hand but missed completely.

"_James_? What are _you_ doing here?" Serenity tried.

"James can't possibly be up here, Serenity—he's a boy, remember? Boys aren't allowed in the girls' dormitory," Lily mumbled sleepily and flipped over.

"Says who?" James had zoomed in on his prized broomstick, grinning. Some of the girls giggled loudly and winked at James, but James took no notice.

Lily thought she nearly died of shock when she saw James's face staring at her in her bed. She looked down at her thin, gauzy nightgown that she had donned and screamed. "GET OUT, YOU PERVERT! OUT, OUT, OUT!" Lily whacked James with her pillow repeatedly, screaming.

"Ouch—_mad_, are you?—Blimey! Ow—stop that, have you gone _mental_? _Ouch_! Trying to kill me—ow, are you?" James asked, nearly knocked down from his broom. Defeated, he retreated, flying out the door. Lily managed to fling her pillow at his head one last time before he disappeared out the door.

"Nice one, Lils," Serenity said, grinning as she watched the entire episode.

"Thanks," Lily grunted, fluffing her pillow back to its original plump self.

Then she remembered why she was mad at Serenity last night.

"_You_! You didn't tell me you and Sirius Black were going out!" Lily cried indignantly, shaking her pillow forcefully.

The girls around her began whispering angrily.

Serenity glanced at the threatening pillow and shrugged. "Didn't have time. Come on, Lily—you better change—unless you want James catching you in that again and having a nosebleed?"

Serenity ducked the blow Lily had tried to give her with the pillow in her hand and grinned broadly, looking curiously like Sirius Black.

o.O.o.O.o

James's nose _was_ indeed bleeding rather profusely, but he was grinning nonetheless.

"What happened?" Sirius demanded immediately as he changed into silver robes.

"Well, I got in, like you thought I would—and then—I saw her. In her wonderful nightgown," James said, sighing deeply. "That memory is one I would keep forever if I had a Pensieve."

Remus shook his head while Sirius snorted impatiently.

"A _nightgown_?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "What? Was it thick and pink and fluffy with the words 'I love James Henry Potter' all over it? Idiot."

"No." James still had a blissful look on his face. "It was sheer."

Sirius widened his eyes. "No way, you damn lucky stag!"

Remus cleared his throat loudly. James and Sirius looked startled and then James began blushing deeply. "Now that I believe you two have gotten your minds out of the deep end of the gutter…we have to go to Hogsmeade now."

"Damn! I need to change still," James swore loudly and rapidly donned a Gryffindor red dress robes.

Remus walked out in front but nevertheless, he still heard Sirius muttering to James, "Hope Evans is still in her nightgown—I want to look—or Serenity for that matter."

There was a resounding slap two seconds later and Remus chuckled lightly before stepping out of the door.

o.O.o.O.o

"Well that was a dull Hogsmeade trip," Sirius announced grumpily. "Serenity changed into dress robes."

"Is that a bad thing?" Remus asked pointedly.

Sirius grinned. "Might be. Anyways, we had minimal snogging because Prongsie here decided to ambush us each time to see where his dear Evans went!" Sirius shot James a glare.

James shrugged it off. "I just wanted to know."

Sirius continued glaring. "That's your reason for making us come back to Hogwarts at an ungodly three o' clock in the afternoon?"

"Lily came back."

Sirius gave a loud snort of disbelief. "Because Lily came back," Sirius said in a mocking voice. "So what?"

"You didn't _have_ to come back," James said distractedly.

"Yes, we _did_, Prongsie! You made us, remember? You were threatening to hex off my right buttock if I didn't come!" Sirius exploded heatedly.

"That's right," James nodded absently and left the Common Room, leaving Sirius's mouth open.

Remus walked over and closed it with a slap under Sirius's chin.

"Ouch, Moony! What was that for?" Sirius whined.

"To help you," Remus sighed and walked upstairs to the boys' dormitory.

"I am the most unlucky thing in the world today," Sirius announced dramatically, giving a great sigh as he sat down in the armchair, waiting to see if Serenity would think to wear her nightgown if she were to come into the Common Room.

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Author's Note:

Sorry for all the pervertedness, you guys…but they are male chauvinistic pigs who have only ONE thing on their minds…and we can all guess what that is…sighs _Guys_.

Anyways, hope you liked this chapter!

Please review..

Thanks.

**Thanks to chikichiki, Prongsie4028, Jen, werewolf21, not telling. in email, alittlesomebody! **

_Jen _: thanks for noticing! hehe, i do try to be somewhat discreet.

_Prongsie4028_ : I thought you deserved some mentioning because you're my longest reviewer--every single time! I just love you!


	4. The Lake Incident

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The Room of Requirement

By: neen

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Just a little note to help reduce the confusion…this story takes place in their **SIXTH** year! Thanks.

* * *

**The Lake Incident**

"That dratted Potter and his stupid stalking," Lily muttered under her breath as she walked back from Hogsmeade.

She had found that Hogsmeade trip to be extremely dull without Serenity shopping with her. Serenity was away, no doubt snogging Sirius to death, Lily thought bitterly, wishing she had a boyfriend herself.

"_You could._" A tiny voice had come out from her mind.

Lily stopped in the middle of the corridor. "What?" She asked out loud. "Who?"

"_James Potter_."

"Potter?" Lily voiced aloud.

"How'd you know I was behind you?" A sheepish James walked to the front of her and grinned.

Lily looked startled. "I didn't. NO! I did," she said finally when she realized the outcome of her, 'I didn't' would have been James's cue to say, "You've been thinking about me?"

"How are you?" James asked good-naturedly as the two resumed walking again.

Lily wanted desperately to get out of his circle of attention and looked wildly around for an escape. She couldn't possibly run out of a window and sighed.

"Just dandy. You?" Lily asked, looking stiff.

"Excellent. A walk outside perhaps?" James asked casually.

Lily squinted her eyes at James, contemplating. Lily did not say anything but followed James out the door to the lake.

James smiled as he saw Lily walk out beside him. She looked positively radiant. The sun's rays had caught her hair and made it look a brilliantly bright red. Her eyes looked warm and very green as she looked at him. Lily gave him a half smile. Being outside made her happy.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lily laughed at James's dreamy expression on his face.

"You're beautiful, Lily," James said softly, never taking his eyes off her.

"Sod off, J—Potter," Lily snapped, looking away. Unknown to James's hurt eyes, Lily had blushed. No one had ever said that to her before. But this was James Potter, her _enemy_, for Merlin's sake.

"You haven't noticed?" James looked pained as Lily tore her eyes from the rippling lake to stare at James.

"Notice _what_?" Lily's tone was biting, caustic.

"You still don't like me? Even as a friend?"

"No," Lily responded immediately as she did not meet James's eyes, knowing very well that she was hurting James. She ignored her guilty conscious.

"Oh."

An awkward silence fell in. Lily sneaked a look at James, who looked crestfallen.

"Can't we be friends, then?" James's voice had hopefulness in it.

Lily looked away again. She could not bear to look at him with such a hopeful and optimistic face on.

"It's not possible, Potter," Lily said, staring at the water. They had come to the mossy banks now.

"I see. Erm, good day, Lily," James said quietly and turned to leave.

Lily had turned around quickly and lost her balance. "Oh!"

She plunged into the lake with a loud splash.

James whipped around rapidly. "Lily?"

"LILY!" James roared as he saw her figure starting to sink at an alarming rate. He quickly ran, throwing off his robes in haste, and jumped in the lake, chasing her.

He got her. He struggled and kicked the dense rock on the edges of the lake and brought Lily up to the surface.

James swam vigorously to the edge and laid Lily there on the mossy bank. He was exhausted and had barely enough energy to pull himself up from the lake.

Suddenly, he felt something grab at his waist, pulling him swiftly down. He gulped one last breath of air before he got dragged into the water again.

"Lily's safe," he thought as the Giant Squid lowered him through the lake.

o.O.o.O.o

Lily woke, her clothes sun-baked and spluttered out some water before breathing in greedily. She had been so afraid that she would get drowned. Thank Merlin for—that's right, who _did_ save her?

Lily sat up slowly, puzzled, as she tried to remember who she was with. A moment later, it came to her. She had been walking with James Potter. James had just turned to leave. And—she, she had turned around too. But why? To say goodbye? To tell him to wait? To look at his retreating back with a pang of disappointment?

But the thing was…where _was_ he? Lily glanced beside her and noticed James's cloak sitting there on the mossy bank. She knew that James would not leave his cloak. So James had saved her, obviously. But, where did he go?

As much as Lily did not want to admit it, she knew that James Potter would rather die than leave her alone, especially when she almost drowned. She squirmed with guilt and looked around desperately, hoping with all her might that James would pop up.

Lily glanced over at the peaceful lake and wondered. The lake seemed eerily quiet and Lily felt what happened. James was in that lake—because of her.

She stood to the edge and started crying. "I'm so sorry, James…I can't believe I was so stupid! It's all my fault—_mine_. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be down there, becoming a snack to the Giant Squid. Oh, if you don't come out, I'm never going to forgive myself. If you come back, I won't be mean to you anymore—I swear. James, come back—I'm sorry. I lied…I lied! James, I—I think I love you…" Lily said softly, staring at the lake as tears snaked down her face.

The lake started rippling through. Lily stared hard, praying James would pop out.

James indeed, popped out, his head looking enlarged as Lily saw he had placed a Bubble-Head charm to stop him from breathing in water.

He smiled at her. "Hi, Lily."

Lily managed a weak smile as she struggled not to throw her arms around him and sob. "Hi."

"So you're all right, now?" James asked as he swam back to the shore.

Lily nodded, still shaking with fright that James had died.

"Sorry that I kept you worried. The Giant Squid was kind of hard to get away from," James said.

Lily did not know why, but she snapped into her fiery, stubborn demeanor. "I wasn't worried, Potter. Not one bit."

"No? Oh." James held out his robe to Lily. "Here."

Lily took it gratefully. Even though her clothes were dry, she was still shivering for some odd reason. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," James said, his face expressionless. Lily glanced up and saw his normally handsome face looking quite unreadable.

James held a hand out to Lily. Lily took it and James helped Lily up and quickly stuffed his hand back in his pants pocket after Lily stabilized herself. His hand was cold.

"Come on," James said quietly and the two walked back to the castle silently.

o.O.o.O.o

"And then we walked back," Lily finished telling Serenity about the lake incident, skipping over her breaking down at the edge.

Serenity looked dumbfounded. "That's all?" she asked, looking flabbergasted.

"What do you mean?"

"No thank you? You didn't say anything to him?" Serenity asked, an incredulous look on her pretty face.

"I—I forgot," Lily said shamefacedly, looking down.

"You should be nicer to him now, Lily! He _saved_ you. Wizard's debt, obviously," Serenity chided her best friend.

Lily stared at Serenity a minute before grudgingly agreeing, "Fine."

Serenity beamed. "Good!"

o.O.o.O.o

James had walked back into the boys' dormitory, feeling disheartened.

"What's wrong, Prongs?" Remus asked quietly and Sirius nodded, "Yeah, what's with you today?"

James then told his two best friends about the lake incident.

Remus looked pleased and Sirius grinned.

"Blimey, she must _really_ not like you," Sirius said, laughing.

Remus shot him a warning look before smiling at James, who looked even more miserable at Sirius's words. "Don't worry, Prongs, you did the right thing. She'll feel indebted to you and she'll like you soon enough. Don't worry."

"Hope so," James said, a forlorn expression on his handsome face.

"She will," Remus said, nodding his head firmly.

James just sighed in response.

* * *

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait!

Hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Together

The Room of Requirement

By: neen

* * *

Just a little note to help reduce the confusion…this story takes place in their **SIXTH** year! Thanks.

* * *

**Together**

"So. _So_," Sirius said, eyeing James as they sat in the Common Room. Sirius glanced beadily over at James, who was busy tickling his nose with his long eagle feather quill. Lily had returned his cloak without thank you. He wondered—she must really hate him or something.

"Yeah. _So_," James repeated, bored. He twirled the quill around.

He had been thinking all morning. Lily _must_ like him somewhat. She wouldn't have been waiting for him at the lake that long if she didn't. But, another voice pointed out, she could have just woken up and stayed there, enjoying the lake. He shook his head hard, making himself rather dizzy.

"Stop that. You'll get a concussion and Merlin knows I don't want _you_ to fall for my irresistible charm," Sirius said, whacking James in the head. James stopped shaking his head.

"So how come you're not doing one of your favorite obsessions?" Sirius asked, smoothing out his sleeve.

"Quidditch?" James had purposely asked, dodging the 'Evans' subject.

"Of course not! Stalking Evans," Sirius said promptly, rolling his sleeve up to examine his muscles. Sirius slid the sleeve back down, apparently satisfied.

"I dunno." James said dully, staring at the fire that was dancing with bright flames. He scowled terribly at it, wondering how it could be looking so cheerful when he was feeling so very miserable.

Sirius eyed him in disbelief. "You _don't know_? What type of answer _is_ that?"

"Well, yeah, I _do_ know. But it's just depressing, see? She just doesn't like me, Paddy—I don't think she ever will, even as a friend—"James said, sighing, a glum look on his face. "And there's a teensy thing that she never walks out with her nightgown on."

Sirius snorted at James's nightgown comment.

"Of course it's depressing, dear Prongsie! I mean really, having a deadly handsome and extremely charming best friend that gets all the girls while you—lanky, Quidditch nerd that's pining away at a _very_ nice-looking redhead."

"I'm not lanky, all right? I'm just not fat, and so what if I'm too tall? I'm—I'm _muscular_. Girls like me! And are you suggesting that you like my girl?" James threw Sirius a dark glare, daring him to say so.

"No. I'm just saying that she's _very_ pretty and that if I asked her out, she would say yes. Oh, and she's not _your_ girl." Sirius beamed widely.

"Sod off, Padfoot," James said grumpily. "You don't want me repeating your words to Serenity, do you?"

Sirius tittered slightly. "_Blackmail_! Some friend I have!" Sirius muttered darkly, throwing a nasty glance at James, who went back to examining his quill.

"I'm going for a walk," James said suddenly, standing up a few minutes later.

"Good," was Sirius's curt reply.

"_Good_?" James raised an eyebrow, shooting a questioning look at Sirius who grinned broadly.

"Yes, good. Need a hearing check? Serenity and I have the room to ourselves now. I'm ah, tutoring her. She wants to study some French and because, well, you know, since I've been abroad to the wonderful country of France so many wonderful times, I volunteered," Sirius said, smiling.

James looked past the eloquence with a shrewd glance. "Snogging session again, I suppose?" He asked, exasperated. "You could have said it in simpler terms—it would have saved me a couple brain cells…That mouth of yours, Paddy.."

Sirius winked at him openly. "Now, Prongsie, really! All I said was that I'm giving Serenity French lessons…I have _no_ idea where you got 'snogging session' out of my words," he said loudly. "And my mouth's not just used for talking either."

James shook his head in disbelief and left, crawling out the portrait hole.

Serenity came out of the girls' dormitory, looking flushed as she saw Sirius waiting for her downstairs. She smiled.

"Good day. I am Professor Sirius Orion Black, and I'm a Frenching expert, at your service. My dear Serenity, are you ready for lesson one?"

Serenity laughed.

o.O.o.O.o

Lily was walking through the halls and looked surprised when she saw that her feet had brought her to the hall of the Room of Requirement. Such crazy memories that room held. She turned around to go back but saw that James Potter was also walking this way. What a _coincidence_. Lily turned back around, hoping that he wouldn't spot her. Why, oh _why_, did she have flaming red hair? Why was she the _only_ girl in the entire school that had red hair?

"Lily?" His voice was hesitant. "Is that you?"

Lily mentally groaned and dragged her feet around, pasting on an overly cheery smile that actually looked like she wanted to heave up the contents of the morning's breakfast. "Potter! So _good_ to see you here. Great!"

"What's wrong? You look like you're about to be sick," James had walked up to her and looked hard at Lily's face, staring at Lily's grimace.

"Um—no. I'm fine," Lily said, looking away, staring at the golden door handle of the Room of Requirement's that had suddenly materialized, gleaming in contrast of the dirty gray stone walls.

Then came a few other moments of awkwardness as James stared at Lily. Suddenly, he took Lily's hand and led her to the Room of Requirement, flinging the door wide open.

"We need to talk."

Lily snorted at James's words. "You make it sound like we're about to break up or something and we're not even going out!"

"Well, we _do_ need to talk."

"About _what_, precisely?" Lily asked, wrenching away her arm as soon as they were in the room. She knew that she had promised Serenity to be somewhat nice to James, but this was a bit too much. James shut the door behind them once they were inside.

"You and me," James said simply and requested two comfy armchairs. They sat down.

Lily did not glance at James, choosing instead, to stare at a bright pink heart shaped rug sitting in the middle of the room. "There's nothing between us. Enmity, perhaps, but nothing else. No affection whatsoever. You should know that." Her voice was trained to be cold, indifferent to emotions. She did not like the tingly feeling she had in her heart when she glanced over at James.

James sneezed. Lily was reminded of how he had saved her yesterday by the lake. Her heart softened some as she looked at James's good-looking face.

"You're wrong. I like you a lot, Lily. I mean it. And I know that you care for me somewhat, but you just won't say it," James said quietly. He was crossing his fingers in his robes, hoping that she _really_ did like him a bit. It was time for drastic actions in extreme situations.

Lily opened her mouth to protest, though nothing came out. James had swooped down on it, covering it with his lips. Lily closed her eyes and let James kiss her. She kissed back, reminded of her first kiss with James in this same room, under such different circumstances. James had liked her then and she did not like him back, while this time…she wasn't so sure. She—She liked him this time.

But she couldn't…or could she?

Slowly, they broke away, and Lily drowned herself into James's warm pools of hazel that looked so loving and inviting. He had saved her—at the lake—he was her savior.

She smiled brightly, slightly drunk from staring at James's eyes. Her knight in shining armor had finally come.

James stared back at her and whispered softly in her ear, "I love you, Lily Evans."

Lily was struck dumb at his words. Her heart was pounding something loud. Her heart pace quickened and she felt dizzy with sudden comprehension. It overwhelmed her. He loved her. Loved. And she—she had been in love with him all this time. All this time! How was she so stupid not to realize it before? And James—James would do _anything _to save her…how many guys would do that for her? She knew the answer…she _had_ the answer all along…just one. James Henry Potter.

She smiled brilliantly at James.

"You know…I was so worried at the lake that day…I lied to you—I'm so sorry…I thought you _died_," Lily said softly after a while, her eyes watering at the thought of never seeing James again. "I don't think I would've forgiven myself if you did…"

James smiled. "It's okay, Lily. Everything's okay now. We're both safe and that's all that matters."

"I love you too, James." The tingly feeling in her heart had evolved into something wonderful and very warm. It engulfed her mind, heart, body, and even soul. She was in love.

James smiled when he heard Lily call him by his first name.

She laid her head on James's shoulder, feeling the small and comforting prickle as they touched. She enjoyed the warmth it gave out and James wrapped her in his arms, both feeling blessed.

Finally, after so much crazy times stuck in the Room of Requirement and Lily's stubbornness, they were together.

* * *

Author's Note:

Yay, I'm done! I've been meaning to finish this up…I'm going to concentrate on **Winning Miss Lily Evans Over**, which is the sequel to **Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans**. Please try it, if you haven't already! Then I'm off for school. Great. Just _great_. Ugh.

Hope you guys enjoyed this story!

Thanks to all my terrific reviewers! You guys mean a lot to me…

With much love,

Neen

P.S. No sequel for this story either, I believe…sorry! Please try out my other stories though—I write many Lily and James stories. If you're getting tired of those stories (how dare you! Hehe, just kidding), you can try out my very first (wow) Harry Potter and crew story called **The Chosen One's Battle** which has all my theories and thoughts on what's going to be happening in the seventh installment of the series. I think it's rather interesting…it is a bit of a fast-read, so I'm sorry about that. I couldn't have spent more time on it because I wanted to finish up the rest of my stories before summer break ended…hope you guys would understand! Thanks.


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